Mantle of the Protector
by Midnyght Saber
Summary: With Amity Park under ghostly control, Danny is the leader of the bastions of human life, protector of those who survived the invasion. However, when a surprise occurs, Danny turns from the coward he's become to the hero that's been hiding inside.


**Disclaimer:** _Danny Phantom _and all related characters and information are the property of Butch Hartman and Viacom International, Inc. "Seven Days to the Wolves" is the property of Nightwish and their United States distributor, Nuclear Blast.

* * *

**The wolves, my love, will come**

**Taking us home**

**Where dust once was a man**

Danny and Jazz stood back to back, the younger relying on his ghost powers, the elder armed to the teeth with long-range guns and various pieces of close-combat weaponry. Sam was kneeling on a ledge above them, shouldering her guns long enough to reload the power cells.

The ghosts advanced on the trio, by now barely being held back by the meager barrage that was aimed at them.

Danny dropped his shield as he inhaled, Jazz and Sam both ducking and covering their ears as he released a powerful wail, the multitude of ghosts thrown back, many knocked into whatever passed for unconsciousness. As the wail died down, Danny stumbled forward, having been in ghost form so long that he barely remembered when the siege had started, wondering if he had died somewhere in the past week and had just kept on fighting.

Jazz leaned down, maneuvering Danny's arm over her shoulder as she signaled for Sam to help her, shooting at the few remaining ghosts as they helped Danny towards the house.

As they approached the Fenton Works building, an audible sigh sounded from the exhausted halfa as he pushed himself away from the girls. Standing on wobbly legs, he pressed his hand against the active ghost shield, passing through it as he transformed back into his human form.

Jazz fired a few more shots of cover fire before ducking behind the shield, Sam and Danny already up the front stairs, the both of them moving as if they'd been going non-stop for days on end. As Jazz walked into the house, she closed and locked the door, flopping down on the couch next to her brother, Sam walking into the kitchen to check if the water was still running.

**Is there Life before a Death?**

**Do we long too much**

**And never let in?**

Tucker looked in from the doorway leading to the basement. "How's everyone holding out?" Murmurs reached his ears from the exhausted youths that had just walked in.

Danny looked up, his blue eyes clouded with exhaustion. "Hey, Tuck, how are my parents doing?"

"No improvement yet, but they haven't gotten any worse," Tucker said, hiding how much it bothered him that this was the same thing he'd said for a few weeks now. He was starting to believe that the doctors were saying that the Fenton parents would recover only to keep the spirits of the two children up.

Jack and Maddie had been on the front lines when the invasion had begun over two months ago, fighting with every weapon in their arsenal as well as a few made on the fly. They had been the ones that armed the rest of the town, guarding Danny and Jazz as they had gone around town installing ghost shields. Ever since then, they had been running stealth attacks on the ghosts as well as taking food, drink and ammo where it had to go. On a run to one of the shelters that had been set up, they were set upon by a group of ghosts that had managed to get inside the shield before it was completely operational. Only the people inside the shelter who'd gathered their guns had kept the ghosts at bay long enough to get the Fentons inside where it was safe.

**Howl**

**Seven days to the wolves**

**Where will we be when they come?**

A hiss of static was heard from the basement, Tucker and Sam heading down the stairs as Danny phazed through the floor. The hybrid reached the computer bank first, clicking on the mic hooked up to the radio. "This is Phantom Base."

"Phantom Base, this is Phantom Seven. Calling to request new ammunition cells and a doctor."

Danny frowned in concern. "Phantom Seven, is the area secure?"

"We're okay. The doctor is requested because there's a lady here whose water just broke."

"Okay. Supplies and doctor will be there within the next thirty minutes or delivery will be free of charge."

A muted laugh erupted from the radio, and Danny smiled. "Phantom Base out."

"Understood. Phantom Seven out."

Danny stepped back as Sam moved to the radio. "Phantom Nine, respond. Is Doctor Roscella awake?"

"Phantom Nine responding. She can be in a few minutes."

"Good. We're sending Phantom Leader over there to pick her up. You need any supplies?"

"No, but thanks for verifying. She'll be awake by the time Phantom Leader gets here."

Danny smiled despite himself as he phazed into the second-floor munitions locker. When the invasion force had first hit, it had been lunch hour at school, the students all outside that day. Though both Sam and Tucker had voiced their mutual distrust in Danny's decision, he knew that the only way to defend the school and the people there would be with him at full power, and he went ghost in front of the entire school body. Having been developing his powers for some time, he was able to generate a shield large enough to cover the whole lunch area, the school evacuated to that created safe zone immediately. His parents had arrived some time later, moving everyone from the school to city hall, which was under its own ghost shield, though it had taken a great deal of time to move everyone with only the Fenton RV.

Regardless of his previous status of enemy within the city, Danny had been elected the leader of the resistance after his parents had been incapacitated, dubbed 'Phantom Leader'. He had taken to the position with the heavy heart of a near-orphan, struggling to keep his own spirits up as he fought to keep what had happened to his mother and father from happening to anyone else. He slowly gained the trust of all who had survived the initial assault, and under his supervision, the largest building in Amity Park, at least out of those left standing, were supplied with food supplies, munitions and fully-powered ghost shields, his powers the greatest advantage in the field during the quick-strike attacks.

Slinging two packs of power cells over his shoulder, he headed downstairs, leaving the security of the shield before transforming, flying in the general direction of Sam's house, now going by the call sign of Phantom Nine.

Arriving there in short order, Doctor Roscella was out on the front stoop waiting for him, her brown hair waving in the wind, bag of what Danny figured were medical supplies secured on her back. She walked through the shield as Danny split himself, his clone kneeling down so that she could establish a firm grip on him before they took off. Through both sets of eyes, Danny was ever watchful as they flew towards Phantom Seven, a base that was situation on the other side of the city.

A bolt of green fire shot past, and Danny's clone quickly vectored away as a second blast was seen coming towards them. Ectoplasm forming a shield over his foot, Danny kicked the fireball back towards its originator, nearly striking the specter that stood there. Through his clone's eyes, he saw the doctor rush inside the base, dissipating the clone as soon as the front door closed, and he formed another clone next to him so that the munitions could be delivered as well.

The black eyes of the apparent leader of this group of ghosts followed his clone only long enough to get caught in the back by one of Danny's ectoplasmic blasts. Turning his attention to the halfa, he and the group of ghosts began to charge their attacks.

"What do you want?" Danny screamed as he lowered himself to the ground, his ectoplasm weaving into a concave disc in his hands.

"What we've wanted since we started this invasion, what we invaded for – this town will be ours, half-ghost." With that, volleys of ecto-blasts were sent in Danny's direction.

Evading most of them, Danny managed to capture a few of the blasts in the disc he'd formed, collecting more and more energy as the attack continued, building until it was nearly as large as Danny himself. Imbuing the reserved energy with his own, as well as adding in his ice powers, he launched the massive ball back at the gang, those that hadn't fled when the saw the blast forming were now trapped inside a large block of ice. Pulling the Thermos from its holster on his belt, Danny pulled a vast number of the ghosts into it, and then made sure to lock the container before placing it back on his belt.

**Seven days to the poison**

**And a place in Heaven**

Returning to the human plane, he walked into Phantom Seven's base. A middle-aged woman met him at the door, a smile on her face and a ham and cheese sandwich on a plate in one hand. The other hand held what Danny figured was a warm pop, but as he entered the house, he accepted both with the reserved thankfulness of a battle-worn soldier. Sitting on a chair in the living room, he bit into the sandwich, just then realizing exactly how hungry he was, confused as to why he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten.

A scream resounded through the house, and Danny stood up, in ghost form before he'd cleared his seat, the plate shattering as it and the remains of the sandwich scattered all over the floor, his unopened pop violently shaken. As Danny turned to look for the source of the scream, another member of Phantom Seven, a kid that looked about a year or so younger than him, grabbed his arm. Danny looked around, confused, and then turned to the woman who'd greeted him at the door.

"Don't worry, Daniel," she replied to his inquiring glance. "Doctor Roscella is taking care of her."

Realization and understanding crossed his features, and he looked ashamedly at the remnants of his lunch as he knelt down and started collecting the pieces of the ruined plate. Someone brought Danny a fresh sandwich as he tossed the last of the plate into the small wastebasket by the couch, but he pushed it aside as he looked at the youth that was waiting for him to take it. "You need it more than I do," Danny told him. "You go ahead and eat. You need your strength."

The child watched Danny, eyes wide, as he slowly opened the bottle of pop. "But you have to eat. You protect us. You keep me and my mommy safe." Offering up the plate, the child jumped slightly as another scream pierced the room, soon followed by a high-pitched wail, and Danny smiled as he took the plate.

"My mommy is having a baby," the little kid said, his smile growing. "I'm going to be a big brother and keep them safe, just like you, Danny Phantom."

Danny couldn't help but feel proud, his heart bursting in his chest, of the strength of this young boy. Setting his pop down, he ruffled the kid's hair. "You do that, little guy. You keep your sibling safe, no matter what."

"And you'll protect all of us?"

"That's what I'm here for."

Someone called the child away and he ran, apparently going off to meet his new sibling, and Danny smiled as he finished off the last of his sandwich, draining away the few remaining drops of soda. Standing, he looked to his host. "Thank you for your hospitality. I'm sorry about the plate."

"It's more than okay. We've all been a little jumpy."

**Time drawing near**

**As they come to take us**

Motioning towards the stairway with a nod, he asked, "Does anyone know what she's having? And for her water to just have broken, she delivered quickly."

"She's actually been in active labor for about sixteen hours, but her water just broke. We got in contact with Doctor Trevors yesterday and he said it was best for Rebecca to just hold out on calling for medical aid until after her water broke. And she hasn't mentioned whether it was a boy or a girl."

As if to answer the initial question, Doctor Roscella appeared at the top of the stairs. "A warm welcome for the newest addition to our town. Missus Schinder just delivered a healthy baby girl."

A cheer arose around Danny, and he joined in for a moment, the stress of the invasion far away from him in the light of this moment of joy. When the sound finally began to die away and people returned to what they had been working on, Danny faced the woman once more. "Well, I'd better be on my way. Give the family my congratulations, and make sure someone gets in touch with Phantom Base to let them know that I'm heading back."

"Understood, Phantom Leader," she replied, her sudden formality confusing Danny for a moment, pulling him into a comforting hug. "Go take care of this town…for Christian and his baby sister."

Danny nodded as he left, human only long enough to cross the shield barrier.

**This is my church of choice**

**Love's strength standeth**

**In love's sacrifice**

Sam looked at the array of screens at the computer bank, her eyes wandering over the displays. Three major ghost arrays were showing, all of which she knew by heart, having seen with her own eyes the rampant destruction at those sites. The first were grouped in the remains of Casper High, the second at City Hall, the third near Lake Eerie.

"Phantom Base, this is Phantom Seven reporting. Phantom Leader is on return flight now."

Sam sat up, clicking the receiver. "Thank you, Phantom Seven." Shaking her head, she tried to clear the fog of exhaustion that had been trying to claim her for some time now. Tucker and Jazz were both upstairs catching some much-needed rest, so she was required to stay awake until someone was available as her relief, one person required to keep an eye on the monitors. Switching the visual mode, she counted the dots that represented the active ghost shields. _Five…nine…twelve…Good, all fifteen are still active. I should go ahead and take call now._

Turning the receiver on again, she broadcast the second check of the day. "All units, this is Phantom Base. I repeat, this is Phantom Base, Sam Manson on communications. All units, report in."

One by one, the various facilities reported in, all fifteen still safely in human hands. She relaxed noticeably, sagging in the seat as she finally let herself relax. It had been non-stop ghost hunting and running for her, Jazz and Danny for the past two weeks, and she hadn't had a chance before now to truly let it all go…

A cool chill permeated the room, and Sam's eyes snapped open as she shot up from her slumped position, both embarrassed and afraid because she'd fallen asleep when she was supposed to be on watch. Danny's pristine emeralds stared back at her, bright as the smile that he was wearing…although, from this angle, it looked like a frown, Danny suspending himself upside-down in mid-air.

"Danny…I…I…" Sam sputtered, stopped as Danny rested his hand against her lips.

Turning himself over, he landed on the floor, taking her into his arms as his lips grazed against hers gently. Her eyes shot open, surprised by his sudden motion, and though it was no shock that Danny liked her like this, she hadn't thought about it often. The day that Danny had told her how much he really cared about her had been the same day that the invasion had begun, and her thoughts hadn't lingered long on Danny's confession. Relaxing in his grip, she returned the kiss for a moment before pulling away.

"It's actually okay that you've been asleep. You nodded off right before I got in," he said, "and nothing's happened in the hour you've been asleep."

"Hour?!" Sam sounded panicked, relaxing as Danny set his hands on her shoulders. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, leaning his forehead against hers. "You deserve a rest. We all do." His eyes flashed open and he wheeled away from Sam, reaching for the Thermos on his belt. "Sorry, almost forgot."

Placing the top of the Thermos on the pedestal, he released the lock as he dumped the seventeen ghosts he'd captured into the containment facility in the wall. Clicking on the comm, he looked at the apparent leader of the bunch. "Care to tell me exactly why you are here? Not enough room in the Zone for you?"

"This town belongs to us," he hissed, "and we will claim it as such in time, half-breed."

"So why are you under the impression that Amity Park, a human town, belongs to you ghosts?"

"That is none of your concern, half-blood, but I will tell you anyway. Do you remember when King Pariah brought the town into the Zone?" Danny nodded. "It intersected with our home there, destroyed it, and for that, we will take this town as our new home, make it our new haven."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "So you're trying to make us pay for something King Pariah did? Where is the sense in that?"

The leader snarled, fangs showing his wicked smile. "You humans pulled the sword."

**For the rest of this**

**I have to say to you**

**I will dream like the God**

**And suffer like all the dead children**

Danny cut the connection, flicking a switch that turned the containment wall from transparent to opaque, hanging his head. Internally, the blame in this had just shifted from the ghosts to him. He'd drawn the Fright Knight's sword, signaled their surrender, destroyed the ghosts' home. He'd been the reason that so many had died in the past two months, and he was to blame. He, alone, was the reason that his parents were now in perpetual comas, lying strapped up to monitors in the bedroom upstairs.

His eyes fogged over as he dropped to his knees, his mind's eye seeing all the dead faces that stared back at him. The glassed, empty eyes of all those he couldn't save as he collected their bodies in the dead of night, burying them in a tree-lined clearing in the park. Using his powers, he'd dug their graves, marking their resting places with bricks, their names etched into the weather-worn stones in ectoplasm, the names and faces burned into his mind, a torturous memory.

Karisa Ishiyama.

Dash Baxter.

Jeremy and Pamela Manson.

Manuel Sanchez.

Valerie Gray.

The list went on and on, names flying through his mind, their eyes staring back at him from beyond the grave. He doubled over, his head throbbing with the intensely hurtful memories.

Sam was at his side in an instant, her arms wrapped around his shaking form. "Danny, what's wrong?"

Danny opened his pain-filled eyes and looked at her. "I killed them all. I sentenced them all to death."

"Danny, you couldn't have known. You were trying to save us," she said as he pulled him up into a sitting position. "It's not your fault. Pariah and Fright Knight are the ones to blame. They made Amity Park move into the Zone, not you. You couldn't have known that the sword had that kind of power."

**Howl**

**Seven days to the wolves**

**Where will we be when they come?**

"How can you free me from the blame so easily, Sam? If I hadn't pulled that sword…"

"Then someone else would have come along and done the same. There's no way that we could have survived in that containment for long. Besides, you were doing the right thing."

Danny shook his head, pulling away from here. "The wrong thing done for the right reasons is still wrong, no matter how you look at it."

Jazz's voice floated through the air. "Is Danny alright?"

Sam looked up at the young woman. "He just found out that the ghosts are attacking Amity Park in revenge. When Fright Knight and King Pariah sent Amity into the Ghost Zone, it wiped out the homes of these ghosts, so they're claiming that as reason to take Amity as their own."

"That doesn't make any kind of sense. It wasn't our fault that it happened."

"It's not your fault because you're not the one who pulled the sword. _I_ did. I'm the one responsible for this whole mess." Danny's voice was shaking, his guilt rising off of him in waves. "This whole mess is my fault."

Jazz leaned down, shaking her brother's shoulders. "You didn't know. It's not your fault." When Danny turned to reply, she shook him again, desperately trying to get through. "Unless you planned this invasion, unless you told the ghosts where to go and where to attack, you are _not_ responsible for what's happened, do you understand me?"

"But, Jazz, I…"

"Daniel Jonathan Fenton, you listen to me!" Taking on the straightforward tone of their mother, Jazz locked onto her brother's eyes. "Unless you are the one leading this invasion and keeping the ghosts here, this is not, I repeat, _not_ your fault. Stop being the scapegoat hero. So you're a ghost. So you're still getting over the fact that the town used to fear you." She stopped, making sure her little brother was paying close attention to her. "So what? You've been doing this for how long now? You protect this town with your life, do what you think is best for all of us, and you're just going to blindly take the blame for the actions of a few renegade, immature ghosts? That's not the Danny Phantom I've been helping, and until you can see what's really going on out there, I don't think that I want to be a part of this team." Standing, she turned to leave, stopped only by a light grip on her wrist.

"Please, don't go." Danny's voice was weak. "I'm sorry. It's just…" He hung his head. "In the days right after the invasion, Mom and Dad got really worried because I kept disappearing. Truth is, I was out there, searching the town for the fallen. I was trying to bury our dead. Despite the way that they thought of me, whether or not they even knew me…they don't deserve to lie out in the streets, left to decay and fade into memory." Struggling to find the right words, Danny clenched his fists against the side of his head. "I dug their graves, carved their names into bricks I found in the wasted remains of buildings. I had to take the time to put names to faces, and it got worse with every person, every pair of lifeless eyes that watched me as I flew from where they'd fallen to the graveyard I made in the park."

Danny leaned his head back, looking at Sam with eyes that fought against tears. "That's why I've been so reserved about everything, so unwilling to talk for all this time. I couldn't come to terms with those faces, especially when it was someone that I knew or someone related to those I knew."

Sam's breath caught in her throat. "My grandmother?"

"No," Danny answered swiftly. "No, she's been with Phantom Four since this started. It was your parents."

Sam fell back, numb, her rear coming into swift, painful contact with the cold floor. "They're both…"

Danny nodded mutely. "Your parents, Valerie, Dash, a few others from school, Principal Ishiyama. All of them are gone because I couldn't stop the attack, couldn't keep everyone safe."

**Seven days to the poison**

**And a place in Heaven**

Jazz knelt next to her brother and took him into her arms, holding him tightly. "Stop blaming yourself, Danny. I can understand how you feel about what's happened, but if you collapse now, if you draw into yourself, it's only going to get worse. You're Phantom Leader. You're the head of this whole operation, the one we're all turning to for support and hope. If you take that from us…"

Danny's mind flickered back to the frail yet strong wail of the newborn child, the look of hope and reassurance in Christian's eyes, and the applause of the base when the doctor had announced the birth of the baby girl.

Standing slowly, both Jazz and Sam stunned by his sudden shift in demeanor, Danny walked over to the bank of computers, eyes scanning over the screens as he tracked the movements of every ecto-entity in the city. Tossing a headset to Sam, he set an identical one into his left ear.

"What are you doing, Danny?" his sister asked, her eyes showing her concern.

"This is my town, and these are the people I've grown up with," he said, his voice resonating in a way that none gathered had ever heard before. He looked to the screens for a second and then smiled at his sister. "It's time I do what I'm supposed to…for Christian and his sister, for Mom and Dad, for every person out there still alive…and for all those that were killed."

**Time drawing near**

**As they come to take us**

"Jazz, I need you to go get Tuck and get on the monitors, making sure that they're updated so Sam can keep me informed about where the ghosts are. Sam, you're on comm with me." He tapped the screen. "They destroyed my school, ruined a good half of my hometown." His eyes lit green for a second. "It's time I make a stand."

Leaning over, he keyed the radio on. "All units, this is Phantom Leader. Report in."

A crackle sounded before a voice replied, "Phantom Leader, this is Phantom One reporting. Aren't you calling for report early?"

"Hold that, Phantom One. Let's get the response from the rest of the units."

Almost immediately, the fourteen other bases replied, and Danny keyed the mike again. "Phantom units, this is Phantom Leader. I want all available personnel armed and at the edges of their shields. I'm making a final run against the remaining ghosts and…"

"Phantom Leader, are you sure that's wise? Last we heard, there were over a hundred ghosts massed at City Hall alone, not counting how many other places they're holding."

"Who is this?" Danny ordered.

"Phantom Thirteen…Danny, this is Kwan…you saw what they did to Dash. I don't mean to doubt you, but he _was_ a lot stronger than you and they still…"

Danny sighed. "I know, Kwan. I'm sorry to come off as harsh, but Dash didn't have ghost powers. I'm the only chance we really stand against these ghosts. Our weapons are only so useful, and I don't want anyone else having to suffer the same fate as Dash." He paused for a moment. "Phantom Seven, send my thanks to the Schinder's new baby. She helped me realize what has to be done. I don't want her to have to grow up in this place…to having to grow up in fear."

"Alright, Phantom Leader. Be careful out there."

**This is**

Danny slowly climbed the stairs leading to the kitchen, green energy coalescing around him for a second as he called on his ghost powers, reassuring himself of what he was about to attempt. Stepping out of the front door and through the shield, he closed his eyes, embracing the raw strength of his Phantom side, losing himself in the feeling of his heart slowly stopping in his chest, letting the last of his body's air slide out from between his lips, embraced by the cold chill of death.

**Where heroes**

Taking to the air, he blasted towards the remains of his high school, rage burning like wildfire in his eyes. As he passed over the ruins of the building, his eyes scanned the massive lump of ghosts. Wheeling in the air, he dove towards the ground, shield up to deflect the ecto-blasts sent his way. Pulling in a single deep breath, his chest expanded to its fullest, Danny dropped the shield and unleashed a cataclysmic wail, its reverberations shaking the remaining foundations of the school, forming a crater where the basement had once been. Ghosts toppled by the dozens, and Danny siphoned as many as he could into the single Thermos he had on him. Setting the lock, he dodged a furious barrage of attacks, cloning himself as a surge of ghosts appeared out of nowhere.

**And cowards**

The scream of an engine roared overhead, momentarily startling the specters that had been moving towards Danny, kept off by the shield that activated once the vehicle neared the halfa. Danny looked up, the Specter Speeder hovering above him, and he flew to it, ready to yell at his sister and tell her to get back home, when she opened the hatch and silently handed him a silver bandolier, its various holsters carrying not ecto-ammo but a number of empty Thermoses. Handing his single one to Jazz, he gave her a final order – "Get home now."

As the shield surrounding them went down, the Speeder flew away, Danny returning to the fight below.

**Part ways**

As the whine of the engines died off into the distance, Danny was surrounded by a group of ghosts, mercilessly fired upon from all sides, his shields barely able to stave off the wave of blasts. As the attack became more intense, Danny allowed himself to fall deeper into the emptiness of his ghost half, latching subconsciously onto the ectoplasm fired at him, harnessing it all to himself. Flinging the collected energy back to its originators, they panicked, seeing such a massive assault mounted against them by a single ghost.

The ghosts lay around, covering the school grounds, the once-green earth now scorched black in many places, the few trees now smoldering stumps. Danny looked over the destruction he'd wrought with a sigh of regret before collecting the ghosts in the Thermoses.

**Light the fires**

**Cease**

"Sam, what are we looking at with the ghosts now?" There was a short pause. "Sam?"

"Still here. Concentration is still about the same at City Hall, but the lake is nearly empty. Some of them are heading towards City Hall, but the majority of them are coming your way."

"Thanks, Sam."

"No prob."

Lowering himself into the shaded recess of what used to be the basement doorway, Danny pulled another pair of Thermoses from his belt, pulling the lids off, his finger over the triggers. As the mass of ghosts flew overhead, surveying the damage and the loss of so many from their group, Danny activated both containment devices, its hungry blue light consuming all but a few of the ghosts, the remaining spooks picked off with relative ease, a few well-timed blasts and a couple of clones distracting his foes.

**Chase the ghost**

**Give in**

"Making the run on City Hall. Wish me luck."

"Always, Danny, but if you don't make it back, I'm going to kill you."

"Isn't that kind of redundant?" he asked, smiling at the comment. Sam had developed that little bit of humor whenever she felt that he was taking a one-way trip into a fight, and true to its intent, it brightened his spirits as he flew towards his intended target, slipping into the tranquil mask of invisibility. Returning his two locked Thermoses to the belt, he drew another, suddenly aiming towards the ground, his eyes having caught slight movement. Landing in a tree, he watched as a series of ghosts patrolled the grounds that surrounded City Hall.

_The leader must be in there._ Watching the troops as they continued their circuit around the main square, he found a large gap between them, and when the gap came back around again, he slipped past the perimeter guard, unseen and unnoticed. Moving swiftly but silently on all fours, he reached the second guard, four muscular ghosts stationed outside the front door. Considering his options, Danny moved away, opting to enter the building by way of the nearest window.

**Take the road less traveled by**

**Leave the city of fools**

Sliding smoothly into a standing position, he looked into the window. There wasn't a single ghost to be seen, and his ghost sense had become far too unreliable in this situation. Moving into the realm of intangibility, he phazed through the wall, stopping halfway though when he heard the light patter of footsteps. Turning his head, he quickly relaxed as he saw a rat scurry under the floorboards. Pulling himself through, he dropped to the floor again, creeping along to remain out of sight for as long as possible, not knowing if any of the ghosts in the area would be able to sense his presence. There was a faintly audible click as he removed another Thermos from his belt, and he stopped moving only long enough to remove the cap.

Standing as he reached the back of the building, he returned to the visible plane as he delivered a vicious kick to the door he figured was the mayor's office, splintering it and sending it off of the hinges. Walking into the room, he was greeted by a ghost about his height, a black trench coat covering a majority of his body, his eyes hidden behind flowing hair.

"Well, well, it took you longer than I expected to finally show yourself, half-breed. What happened? Too scared knowing what you fate would be? Maybe you took the time to say your final farewells to those you care about, those you love?"

Danny stood, defiant. "Why I took so long is none of your business. Now why don't we take care of what we need to and get this over with?"

A smirk crossed the ghost's features as he stood, pushing the chair away. "Though I agree with you, I'd hate to have to fight in this building, especially this room. I'm quite fond of the furniture and I think I'd like to have it around and in one piece when I've become a permanent resident."

"I think not. You're not welcome here, and neither are any of your little cronies out there."Something about the way the ghost was treating him threw him off, and he set his Thermos on the ground.

"Something you would like to say before I destroy you, tainted?"

"Why do you hold it against us for your home in the Zone being destroyed? The enchantment that sent us there wasn't of our own design. Fright Knight is the one who set the sword to do that under the orders of King Pariah…And what do you have against me? Yeah, I'm half-ghost, but you and your people seem to be the only ones that have a real issue with that. Everyone else in the Zone just doesn't like me because I keep sending them back there when they cross over to my world."

The ghost stepped back, his eyes showing evident confusion. "All I have ever heard of you, half-blood, is that you fight without reason, intent only on the harm of those that walk among the world of the dead. Tell me, why do you change your tactics with me? It will achieve nothing."

Danny shook his head. "I fight those that threaten my friends and my family. I fight whoever would do harm to those who have done nothing to deserve it. I fight against any ghost that attacks me." He stepped towards the mayor's desk. "I have met with ghosts that wish no ill will to the people of Amity Park or the world, ghosts that wish nothing more than to be allowed to exist, and they have become my friends, not my enemies."

**Set every poet loose**

The four guards that had been stationed at the front door now barged into the room, hands ablaze with ectoplasm. Fluidly, Danny dropped to the ground, kicking the Thermos into the air as he spun to face this new threat. Grabbing the container, he triggered it, sucking the quartet of specters into it as their eyes contorted in surprise. His shield was up immediately, expecting retaliation from the ghost that was now behind him. Securing his Thermos, he turned to find the leader seated in the large chair, quiet and contemplative.

"Are you okay?"

The ghost looked up, as if surprised by Danny's presence. "You speak the truth, don't you, ghost child? You fight only for protection, yet I hear so much about you in the Zone of the threat that you present, of the violence and rage you hold toward the ghosts that enter your world."

"I wouldn't lie about something like that. Even now, I only came after you because of…" His eyes glassed over momentarily, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I've buried so many of my town's residents. I buried my girlfriend's parents, our principal, and a number of our classmates. My parents are both in comas right now, and I don't think that they will ever recover. I want this to end. I want our lives to go back to the way they were. I'm tired of keeping my town defended like this, shielded from your ghosts and fearing to go outside."

**Howl**

**Seven days to the wolves**

**Where will we be when they come?**

Turning, Danny looked out the window, his posture relaxing. "There was a child born today, a little girl. I don't want to see her growing up in this kind of environment."

"I wish I could help you, ghost child, but we have suffered much the same fate. When your town destroyed our home, many of our people could not be found once your town returned to the human world. It is for that transgression that we attacked here, thinking that it was the fault of one here that we were made to suffer."

Danny hung his head. "In a way, it was the fault of one of us. I was the one who pulled the sword during a battle with the Fright Knight, thinking that I could use it to defend myself. I am sorry for what befell, but I didn't know that the sword would do that. It was a signal of our surrender to Pariah Dark, though we didn't know about that until I actually pulled the sword."

**Seven days to the poison**

**And a place in Heaven**

"So it was truly Pariah that was at fault, not you." The ghost walked over to Danny, offering his hand. "I would make a peace treaty with you, but I am afraid that I cannot speak for the rest of my people. Many of them came here of their own volition. Only when I had been informed of the initial invasion did I bring the rest of our colony here."

"Would you be able to remove those that remain loyal to you?" Pulling yet another Thermos from the belt he wore, he tilted it away from him. "I can handle the rest."

"So be it." The ghost bowed to Danny, shaking his head in acceptance of the terms offered. "We will not lightly forget this encounter, for you have brought closure and truth to our suffering and offered us freedom where others would offer destruction."

Danny nodded, firmly returning the handshake. "Take care of your people."

**Time drawing near  
As they come to take us**

Danny watched from the roof of City Hall as the ghosts herded around their leader. Many nodded their heads, understanding the truth of what had happened because of Pariah, and they headed towards the edge of town, to what Danny could only assume was a natural portal. Others raised their fists, Danny able to hear their cries for revenge, for the death of Danny Phantom, for full claim of the town.

A voice cut through the static that was buzzing in Danny's earpiece. "Danny, what's going on? Your transmission died out when you got close to City Hall, but there's a massive outpouring of ghosts, heading towards Lake Eerie." Sam's voice was filled with worry. "You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine, Sam. I'm sitting on the roof right now, trying to catch my breath and figure out what I'm going to do now. Most of the ghosts are headed back to the Zone since I explained to their leader what happened during the Pariah incident. He's taking those who still listen to him back, but the rest are saying that they want to paint the town with my blood."

"You're sure you'll be okay?"

"Always," he said, looking to the setting sun. "Get on the radio and get as many people to Amity Square as possible. It's time we finish this."

"You got it, Danny."

**Howl**

**Seven days to the wolves**

**Where will we be when they come?**

Sam clicked the line off, looking over at Jazz and Tucker, their eye locked on the screens in front of them. "Keep me updated on any movements they make."

The pair nodded in reply, and Sam keyed on the unit radio. "All units, this is Phantom Base. Phantom Leader has given the go-ahead on Order Five-One. All available personnel are to report to Amity Square. Take extra packs of energy cells and make sure you've got a few people providing long-range cover fire. I repeat – Order Five-One is a go."

Each of the bases clicked their line twice, Sam counting a total of two dozen clicks. "Three bases didn't respond," she said. "Who isn't reporting in?"

"Phantom Six here. We're low on power cells. We got attacked when the initial wave headed towards Phantom Leader."

"Roger that, Phantom Six. Is there anyone available with what you've got?"

"Not really. Three of them are out with the flu, and we're still working on picking off the last of the attacking group here."

"Understood."

"Phantom Base, this is Phantom Twelve. We've got far too few on shield duty right now."

Sam's mind to a minute to process this information, and it clicked almost instantly. Phantom Twelve were the Amity University dorms, so the shield there was quite large, needing a significantly higher number of gunners in the event that the shield's power suddenly cut out.

"Understood, Phantom Twelve."

"Phantom Base, this is Phantom Thirteen. We sent out our available gunners about twenty minutes ago, so they should be in the square within the next few minutes."

"Why didn't you alert us then?"

The line was silent for a moment. "I just got put on radio duty. I didn't realize no one said anything."

"Alright. Base out."

**Seven days to the poison**

**And a place in Heaven**

Danny stood, making himself visible, many of the ghosts in the square turning to him as his hands began to light up with green energy, the tendrils creeping along his arms. Taking to the sky, he dove towards the assembled ghosts, many of his opponents moving clear of his falcon dive, those that didn't knocked clear with a low sweep kick as he landed. Rolling into a reverse flip, Danny landed a swift kick into the midsection of a burly ghost that approached him as he spun back onto his feet. Sidestepping a punch, he landed a solid hit to his attacker's face, sending him careening back into the crowd, dodging another attack almost immediately.

Jumping, Danny twisted in the air, bringing his heel down on the head of the next attacker, sending her collapsing to the ground. Several ghosts gathered around Danny, their expressions stoic.

"So, anyone else here who thinks they can challenge me?"

And response that was made was drowned out by a nearby explosion, and Danny smiled as he sank into the ground. Safe here from the residents of Amity Park, he moved clear of the town square before coming topside again, watching with a mixed sense of pride and fear as the citizens of his hometown laid waste to the meager horde of ghosts that had stayed to challenge Danny.

A tap on his shoulder alerted him to the presence of another.

**Time drawing near**

**As they come to take us**

Looking over his shoulder, he smiled lightly, "Hey, Mr. Lancer. How've you been holding out?"

"Good, considering. Things seemed to have gotten rather aggressive today, Daniel. What happened?"

Danny shrugged. "I finally realized that I couldn't just keep sitting around, hoping the ghosts would go away. They've taken so much, and all we did was run and hide." He scanned the scrap going on in the square, eyes carefully monitoring his 'soldiers'. "Besides, if you heard about what happened at Seven today, I think you'd really get why I finally made a move."

"Seven…" Mr. Lancer mumbled, trying to remember what had happened at the base Danny had referenced. He'd only been awake for the last hour or so, and as such was unable to immediately figure out what his pupil had alluded to. When it came to him, he looked up. "You're referring to Miss Schinder's new baby girl, Hope."

**Heroes**

**Cowards**

**No more**

Danny smiled broadly. "So that's what she named her." He stood slowly. "Yeah, that's what I was referring to. I met her older brother when I had to go out to Seven, a kid about four or five, I think. I can't have them growing up in this environment. It's not safe and it's not conducive to any sort of normal childhood. I'd rather not be part of the reason that a kid gets scarred for life, and I would really love to avoid having to deal with someone growing up with the constant fear of death on their mind."

"Well, I'm glad you see things that way, and I thank you for everything you've done."

Danny looked at his teacher, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

"Despite your less-than-stellar academic performance, you are probably one of the greatest students that has ever passed through my classroom door, solely on the consideration of how selfless you are. Not many people can see the world around them die and still have the strength of will to keep fighting. You've had faith in yourself and in us when most of us are so spiritually broken that we're accepting our fate and doing little to nothing to make it how we feel it should be." Lancer smiled, internally realizing that he was proud to have known Danny.

Danny hovered into the air, rising slowly. "We'll have to find more time to talk, but it'll _have_ to be after we've gotten everything back into some semblance of order." Removing the holster of Thermoses, he unclipped the last unused one, handing the rest to Lancer as he clipped his single one onto its hip holster. "Could you please take these back to my house? Sam will know what to do with them. I've got to get down there and clean up the last of this. And be careful, Mr. Lancer."

"I will be," he answered as Danny returned to the fray.

**Heroes**

**Cowards**

**No more**

Dodging the spray of anti-ghost weaponry, Danny wove his way through the throng of fighters, using the Thermos where needed, rounding up the last of the ghosts in a matter of hours. One by one, each of the remaining ghosts was captured, the square soon empty save for the nearly fifty people that had left the sanctums of the shielded facilities to take back what was rightfully theirs.

As the last ghost was secured in the Thermos, Danny locked the cap, a silent permeating sigh running through the assembled, and at that moment, they knew it was all over. Two months, three weeks, five days, thirteen hours and forty-two minutes since the first ghost attack, and Amity Park was once again in the hands of the humans, once more safe from the ghosts that had once tried to call this city their home.

**Heroes**

**Cowards**

**No more**

- - - - -

Four months after the Reclamation, you almost couldn't tell that there had once been a massive ghost occupation of the town. It had been rebuilt, all of the buildings that had been leveled during the invasion now replaced, grand redesigns of the originals, shimmering and new in the sun's light. The ghost shields that had guarded the sixteen buildings of Phantom Operation, Fenton Works included, were shut down, the buildings once more serving their original purposes, people able to walk the streets freely again as they went about their daily lives.

Casper High, the only building that was built with brand new blueprints, looked little like its predecessor, the bricks and mortar replaced by steel, concrete and shatter-proof glass. The classrooms, once hidden from the light due to the original design of the school and small windows, now had window-walls, opening the building up to the outside world. The design and materials were chosen to withstand nearly anything, should another massive ghost attack ever take place. Nestled in the structure was a pair of ghost shield generators, the safe zone once again the lunch area behind the school.

Little else in this small town was changed to the casual glance, but to the eyes of one who looks beyond the façade, you could find the hidden truth by really looking around the western entrance to the park. If you look to the thicket of trees to the right of the entrance, _really_ look, you'll see a shaded path carved through them, the cobbled walkway purposefully overgrown with grass. It isn't that they have something to hide because they are not ashamed. No, they have done this to keep their reminder of the invasion and the memories of those who died safe from prying eyes.

If you walk this path, you'll have to go for about five minutes before you come to a clearing, and in it stands a statue, a pair of hands holding the Earth. Beneath it is an inscription, carved into a brass plate.

_In loving memory of those_

_Who lost their lives in the Invasion_

_And with thanks to all those that selflessly took up arms_

_In the Reclamation._

_May all who come upon this area reflect_

_Upon the times, both good and bad,_

_And look forward to the future with strength and hope._

Lined neatly in front of the statue in three rows lie the bodies of the seventy-one victims of the invasion, the ectoplasm-inscribed bricks having been replaced with marble gravestones, the names of those gone immortalized in stone. On this particular day, there are two people standing here, their black hair drifting gently in the calm wind. The young girl has two sets of flowers, the young man carrying three. Kneeling, the girl places both sets of flowers in front of a large tombstone, the names of the couple that lies below glinting in the sunlight, _Jeremy and Pamela Manson_. She kneels silently, and the young man keeps back, allowing her time to mourn. Once she stands, they take another set of flowers and gently place them before a stone carved with the name _Valerie Gray_. They both look at the name, bowing their heads.

Finally, they move to a single stone near to the statue, and the young man falls to his knees. His body is shaking, obvious that he is crying. The young woman kneels beside him, taking him into her arms, holding him tightly. It takes a little while, but he recovers, taking one of the remaining bundles of flowers, he sets them down in front of the stone. If you're not familiar with the residents of Amity Park, you might just be surprised to see a pair of glowing rings move over this young man's body, his black hair and gray suit replaced with white hair and a black and white jumpsuit, and he leans over, placing the second batch of flowers next to the first, a small note attached to the bundle. Closing his eyes, it looks as if he is praying, though he may be remembering the fallen. After a moment, he stands, the two youths slowly making their way out of this place of memory and loss, hand in head, heads bowed in sorrow.

The note blows open in the wind, secured with a clip to the bundle of flowers.

_Dad,_

_I know that I should have told you about the accident sooner, helped set up the town defenses before anything would have happened, told you that we all ran the risk of a ghost attack because of what I am. I'm so sorry, and I hate that I can't take back what happened. We're all coping without you, but the house just seems so empty without you there. Mom has been taking it the hardest, angry with herself that she wasn't there when you went, and she refuses to listen to us when we try to tell her that she was in a coma when it happened. She says that it's no excuse. Regardless, we're rebuilding, and Jazz, Tucker, Sam and I have all been sworn in as members of the town's ghost policing force._

_I really miss you, Dad._

_I hope you're safe, wherever you are._

_Love, your son,_

_Danny_


End file.
